Guest Post: Elizabeth McKenna

Today is all about Elizabeth McKenna’s latest novel, Venice in the Moonlight. It has a striking cover, which caught my eye in combination with the title. She’s here today to chat – so grab your most sinfully delicious treat and enjoy!

Lusting After Your Hero

My first novel, Cera’s Place, is set in post-Civil War San Francisco. It features a feisty saloon owner named Cera and a war-weary soldier named Jake. When I created my first hero for what I hoped would be a long fiction writing career, I went with my ideal man – the rugged cowboy type. I pictured Aragorn, Viggo Mortensen’s character in Lord of the Rings, in all his sweaty, tangled hair glory.

(Why not Viggo as Frank Hopkins in Hidalgo, you ask? I don’t know. He was sexier in Lord of the Rings.)

I enjoyed the FOUR years I spent writing about Jake and didn’t want to see him go, but I had to move on. So, I said goodbye to post-Civil War San Francisco and hello to eighteenth century Venice for my second novel, Venice in the Moonlight.

With crumbling Venice as the backdrop and the beautiful women’s fashions of the eighteenth century, I thought I had the perfect setting for romance, but I soon discovered I didn’t like the men’s fashions of this era. How can a man be sexy in stockings? I could get behind my hero Nico Foscari’s personality – who doesn’t love a charming rake – but every time I pictured him, my libido said, yeah, ok, whatever.

I needed inspiration, and a Google search for Italian men did the trick.

I don’t know his real name, but to me, he is my Venetian hero. Finally, I was in lust. Of course, I only imagine him from the thighs up, preferably in a white open-faced shirt. But at least now when I think of Nico and my heart races and my skin flushes, I know it’s not just another menopausal hot flash!

I hope you enjoy reading my historical romances and that my heroes make you snap open your fan and say, “Ooh-la-la!”

Take care,

Elizabeth McKenna

Title: Venice in the Moonlight
Author: Elizabeth McKenna
Release Date: October 2013
Length: 194 pages
Series?: no
Genre: Romance
Source: author

Find the book: Website | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Elizabeth McKenna works as a full-time technical writer/editor for a large software company. Though her love of books reaches back to her childhood, she had never read romance novels until one Christmas when her sister gave her the latest bestseller by Nora Roberts. She was hooked from page one (actually, she admits it was the first love scene). She had always wanted to write fiction, so she combined her love of history, romance and a happy ending to write her debut novel Cera’s Place. Her short story, The Gypsy Casts a Spell, is available for free on her website http://elizabethmckenna.com/. She hopes you will enjoy her latest novel, Venice in the Moonlight, as much as others have enjoyed her previous works.

Elizabeth lives in Wisconsin with her understanding husband, two beautiful daughters, and a sassy Labrador. When she isn’t writing, working, or being a mom, she’s sleeping.